Tuesday, October 25, 2011

The Never-ending Minnie Mouse Fabric

My family loves Disney!

As Florida residents we get incredible discounts on season passes. We usually buy a season pass every other year. In anticipation of these trips (and because I just really love polka dots) I usually buy a lot of Minnie Mouse polka dot fabric.

Right now it's an off year, but I can't get it out of my system. So I made a top for my two-year-old (who happens to be the size of a four-year-old). I bought this fabric about four years ago and I will use it until I only have tiny scraps left, and then my girls will probably make clothes for their dolls out of it.

Anyway, as I was organizing my closet this morning (an ongoing project) I came a cross a bin of sewing projects I had started a while back. One of the things that caught my attention was this white top... well, the beginnings of a white top. The little sleeves were sewn in, and the top part was all put together. It had been in there for a while because I honestly don't remember what I had planned to do with it. I'm pretty sure it was something for one of my other girls that got put away before I could finish it.

Well, I pulled it out and had the two-year-old try it on to see if it was big enough around. It was a perfect fit. I had the polka-dot fabric easily accessible because of the top I just finished for my best friend's daughter. I just cut a strip of the polka dot and hemmed it. I did a decorative stitch with white thread across the bottom of the polka dot fabric. Then I gathered it to the top piece which was already complete. Then I went through my button bin which is usually stocked with a plethora of white buttons.

Then I started thinking about how to make it really pop. So I cut a strip of the polka-dot fabric to make a rosette, found another fun button for the center and, voila, an embellishment.

The whole think took me about 45 minutes this morning. Having the first part already finished definitely helped me go a bit faster. I think the longest part was sewing the rosette on because I had to sew it on twice on account of I sewed on the wrong side the first time.

While the two-year-old was running around the house enjoying her new top I remembered that I made a big puffy bow for one of my older girls back when I first bought the polka-dot fabric. I found it and asked if she wanted to wear it. I wish you could have seen her eyes light up. I couldn't tear her away from the mirror for a very long time after I put it in.